Dataset Information

Estimating vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 using cause-specific sick leave as an indicator: a nationwide population-based cohort study, Norway, July 2021 - December 2022.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Due to changes in testing policy and increased use of rapid tests, other indicators for SARS-CoV-2 infections are needed to monitor vaccine effectiveness (VE). We aimed to estimate VE against COVID-19 sick leave (> 3 days, certified by a medical professional) among employed individuals (25-64-years-old) in Norway.

Methods

We performed a nationwide cohort study by collating data from the Emergency preparedness register for COVID-19. We used adjusted Cox proportional hazard models with vaccine status as a time-varying covariate and presented results as adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Separate models were run against sick leave and against SARS-CoV-2 infections during the Delta period (June-December 2021), and against sick leave during the Omicron period (January-December 2022) when SARS-CoV-2 PCR-testing was replaced by rapid self-tests and infections were underreported.

Results

We included 2,236,419 individuals during the Delta period, of whom 73,776 (3.3%) had a reported infection and 54,334 (2.4%) were registered with sick leave. Of the 2,206,952 included individuals in the Omicron period, 300,140 (13.6%) were registered with sick leave. During the Delta period, 55% (26,611) of individuals who had registered sick leave also had a positive test, compared to 32% (96,445) during the Omicron period. The VE against sick leave during the Delta period followed a similar waning pattern to that against SARS-CoV-2 infections. After the second and third dose, the lowest aHRs were estimated for 2-7 days after vaccination for both sick leave (0.25; 95%CI 0.24-0.26 and 0.26; 95% CI 0.24-0.29) and infection ( 0.16; 95% CI 0.15-0.17 and 0.18; 95% CI 0.16-0.19) respectively. During the Omicron period, aHRs for sick leave were higher than during the Delta period, but the lowest aHRs were still found in 2-7 weeks after receiving the second (0.61; 95% CI 0.59-0.64) or third dose (0.63; 95% CI 0.62-0.64).

Conclusion

Our results showed that sick leave could be a relevant indicator for VE in the surveillance of COVID-19 and a finding that may be important in the surveillance of other respiratory infection.

SUBMITTER: Meijerink H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11241785 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Estimating vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 using cause-specific sick leave as an indicator: a nationwide population-based cohort study, Norway, July 2021 - December 2022.

Meijerink Hinta H Veneti Lamprini L Kristoffersen Anja Bråthen AB Danielsen Anders Skyrud AS Stecher Melanie M Starrfelt Jostein J

BMC public health 20240711 1

<h4>Background</h4>Due to changes in testing policy and increased use of rapid tests, other indicators for SARS-CoV-2 infections are needed to monitor vaccine effectiveness (VE). We aimed to estimate VE against COVID-19 sick leave (> 3 days, certified by a medical professional) among employed individuals (25-64-years-old) in Norway.<h4>Methods</h4>We performed a nationwide cohort study by collating data from the Emergency preparedness register for COVID-19. We used adjusted Cox proportional haza ...[more]

PMID: 38992631

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectivesTo explore patients' experiences with receiving sick leave certificates via remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate whether there were differences among the types of remote consultation (telephone, video or text).DesignA nationwide online patient survey consisting of quantitative data supplemented by qualitative opinions conducted in Norway.SettingPrimary care.ParticipantsPatients who received a sick leave certificate via remote consultation in the period from 16 November to 15 December 2020.ResultsOf the 5429 respondents, 3233 (59.6%) received a sick leave certificate via telephone consultation, 657 (12.1%) via video consultation and 1539 (28.3%) via text-based e-consultation. Most respondents (76.8%) were satisfied. Only 10% of the respondents thought that the doctor would have obtained more information through an office appointment. The majority of the respondents (59.6%) found that they had as much time to explain the problem as at an office appointment. Some patients also thought that it was easier to formulate the problem via a remote consultation (18.2%) and agree with the doctor on the sick leave (10.3%).The users of text-based e-consultations were the most satisfied (79.3%, p<0.001) compared with those using telephone or video consultations. Among users of text-based e-consultations, there was a higher proportion of patients who thought that they had more time to explain the problem compared with an office appointment (p<0.001), it was easier to explain the problem (p<0.001) and agree with the doctor (p<0.001). Most respondents would use the same type of remote consultation if they were to contact the general practitioner (GP) for the same problem, with the highest proportion among the users of video consultations (62.1%, p<0.001).ConclusionsPatients were satisfied with communicating and receiving sick leave certificates via remote consultations. Future studies should investigate patients' and GPs' use and experiences in a postpandemic setting.

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Dataset Information

Estimating vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 using cause-specific sick leave as an indicator: a nationwide population-based cohort study, Norway, July 2021 - December 2022.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Estimating vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 using cause-specific sick leave as an indicator: a nationwide population-based cohort study, Norway, July 2021 - December 2022.

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